what a week [again]: ll announces a new virtual world is in the works while second life turns 11.
the situation seems akin to a young family welcoming another child into the world while the first born is not sure if he/she should be thrilled or depressed upon this news.
anyhow – jo and i were on duty with our very first live show straight from the sl11b auditorium, together with guests maxwell graf, loz hyde, flufee and skyspinner soulstar.
here is the unabridged show [plus some great words from jessica lyon from firestorm!!]:
and here is some more reading/viewing material: – having a good time at the live show:
![it is ALIVE! [pic by Hyacinthe]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/slb-live-show-hyacinthe.jpg)
– jo’s post about sl 2.o aka äfterlife [a term coined by flufee, so credit where credit is due]
– flufee’s pilot:
– the sl universe forum thread where ebbe treaded confidently
– ebbe on the “voices of vr” podcast
– jessica’s post on the firestorm blog
– sl11b pics [more on flickr]
![suzan littlething at sl11b [pic by tiina twine]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/suzan-littlething-at-sl11b-pic-by-tiina-twine.jpg)
![1920s berlin at sl11b [pic by vivena]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/1920s-berlin-at-sl11b-pic-by-vivena.png)
![sl11b [pic by loverdag]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/sl11b-pic-by-loverdag.jpg)
![somniatis by khyle sion [pic by sl11b blog]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/somniatis-by-khyle-sion-pic-by-sl11b-blog.png)
the show is supported by leap motion, sl go [by onlive], stitcher, botgirl’s identity circus, kahruvel design, vika creations, humanoid animations, escapades, botanical, death row designs, nantra, angel red cotoure, fallen gods incorporated, {what’s next}, abranimations, blue moon enterprises and landscapes unlimited!
music by bd.
contact the show via skype draxfiles, avatar draxfiles or email radio@draxfiles.com.
the drax files radio hour 
I want to comment on possibly why Blue Mars and Cloud Party didn’t make it. In both cases, they required either Max or Maya to create for. 1 might think this is awesome, but the reality is that it poses some serious problems. The biggest is the amount of creators because of the cost of those programs. The 2nd biggest problem is that Autodesk purposely sabotages it’s users by making versions uncompatible, forcing creators to upgrade. This also causes problems for 2 creators to work together on projects because they both likely won’t be using the same version of the program. This also helps to handcuff the creators to corporations that have the money for all the licenses.
With both Blue Mars, and CP, it was failures in the programs they chose to build their platform around that crippled them. To be fair to BM, compatible formats like FBX and DAE were just starting out, so they didn’t have that option. As a huge fan of the original CryEngine, as this was the engine that got me into 3D, it shocked me to walk into BM and not be able to go right into 1st person and start shooting people. If they had utilized the CryEngine for what it was first, as the big draw to BM, they would have done much better. I had created several MODs for the original Far Cry game, which launched the original CryEngine, and all BM did was use the Level creator to basically allow users to create their own Levels for BM.
CP had the exact same issue because they based their whole creation process on Maya. This created a situation where only Maya users could import animations correctly. Maybe I’m biased, but IMHO, if you don’t have animation, then you have nothing. Well, maybe you have statues. Despite many people, including myself, pointing out that no matter what we did, we could not get animation to upload correctly. Even my Mocap system could not import their rig properly, and it can import any rig from any platform possible. Again, Autodesk purposely does things to ensure there will not be compatibility. In CP, only 1 animator came over from SL, and that was Henemations, or whatever the name is, and that was likely only because they were already a Maya user. Plus, they didn’t make it easy to cash out and actually make a profit.
When it comes to retaining users, I say we give all new users a pet. That pet, will be designed to not only entertain them, but also give them basic information, and teleport locations. Of course, we really can’t do this in SL, as unless the pet is attached, it can’t come with you wherever you go. The new SL might be able to incorporate this from the start tho. Plus, they will be fully working animals with their own skeletons. We already know that almost EVERYONE loves their pets. I love animals also, but I would never keep 1 because then I’m responsible and have to clean up after them. Not in virtual space tho. So, I’d love to have a pet, maybe a lion, or a wolf. If I were LL, I would embed the ability to have a pet follow you everywhere.
As AI gets better and better, those pets will be able to be smarter and smarter, which will be even better for newbies. Plus, those Linden provided pets will have limited entertainment value, and once users got settled in their new world, they would, likely, immediately get more advanced pets. Maybe, every1 should start out with some kind of strange but adorable Linden cat, or a parrot.
Medhue = thank you for your always really constructive comments!! I should say it more often, but I am on a VACATION darn it 🙂 well….sort of…sigh…anyhow = we will ping you in due time to come on and tape a show about ideas for SL 2.o and such! Deal?
Have fun on your vacation! I’d be happy to help out with the show. Personally, I really enjoy what you and Jo are creating here. It is something that the virtual community really needs.
As i heard you talking about the awful new resident experience, i had to think for some reasons on the first days at the university. We were a huge crowd and after we had an introduction seminar in the audimax the biggest auditorium they could offer, we flooded the campus. But as we left the building there we little booths from all kinds of activity groups or associations connected to this university to introduce themselfs and to get into a conversation with the new students.
I think something like this could also be possible in Second Life. On the welcome sim where new residents arrive could be little spaces for all kinds of community groups where they could present themselfs, maybe even something like the SL11B. I think with communities having a vital interest to attract new residents they would be much more successful in dragging them inside SL and show them what to do. And as those booths are directly placed near the landing zone of new residents they could be very focused on providing the nessesary information for them. Much better if a single noob dropping into the everyday business of a sim with not many prepared for his arrival.
Good ideas! Jo and I will discuss when we come back with season 2 August 8th! Maybe a bunch of panel discussions are in order on the subject, time permitting!
I like the idea that you dont have to be some certified guy with a degree in something and be part of some large company to be able to create content for SL, like it is with other games like the playstation home or blue mars, anyone is free to create and self publish and this is the whole selling point for sl to me. But i dont think that what we currently have can be called democracy, I would compair it more to anarchy. I mean sure the creation tools can be used by everyone, even people who have no business using them, but we do not have a proper content rating and filtering system, a system that would let users tag everything, from sims and objects to other avatars based on visual quality, i think this would be a true democracy because people could basically vote on what kind of world they want to be in.
Now everything is just mixed and mashed together without order. Now all the good content is being overshadowed by garbage by people that skipped the learning curve and went straight to trying to produce commercial grade content in their very first try, having zero skill and eye for what looks good. Everyone wants to make things, but no one wants to learn how to make things. And this visual anarchy is the main thing that scares of anyone i ever try to get into SL, it just looks like a jumbled mess.
Good ideas however the anything goes aspect which contributes to a world which is visually ALL over the place aesthetically is very appealing to me personally – it is the greatest about user-created content: some stuff makes your eyes bleed and other things are simply beautiful! I think the curation system needs to be focused on via Destination Guide which is already good for example. And of course = welcome areas need to have KILLER awesome content!!!
I wish that the eye bleeding vs beautiful ratio was at least 50/50, you may like it as it is personally but this is the main contributing factor that makes people stay away from SL right now.
Attention folks: Ebbe outs himself as proponent of the Community Gateway concept = http://modemworld.wordpress.com/2014/06/29/ebbe-altberg-on-user-retention-now-and-in-the-future/
enjoyed listening to the discussion! something Flufee said stuck with me, in part echoed by Utilizator in comments above, and i agree: the second life experience is not about instant gratification – easy come easy go…time and effort spent learning and perfecting, lead to a deeper understanding and skill level, and ultimately is far more rewarding. The challenge of a learning curve is precisely that it’s a curve – meeting this challenge is character- building and transformative. it’s a process. Courage and determination are needed not to give up before the goal is reached. So often we choose ‘easy mode’ and end up cheating ourselves of the very act of Living –
“Easy come easy go” – just like Freddie Mercury used to sing….ahhhh sigh , those were the days of good music:) I happen to think that anything worthwhile in life takes time but many people who first log in have no idea how wonderful SL can give back to them IF they choose to pursue it. Somehow the wonders need to be communicated right up front before the n00bs start chasing a different squirrel in this overwhelming and endless smorgasboard of digital content…..
yes very true – ” this overwhelming and endless smorgasboard of digital content…”
confusing and bewildering at first, but so full of hope and promise – and like Ariadne, we each of us need to have a thread to hold on to, to guide us through the labyrinth. Huggs Flufee :o)
Welcome Island.. it’s was done to perfection in 2007..[ L-Word ! ]
The Sheep even developed a HUD for Interests, Destinations and Events.
New Avs liked it so much it required a huge cloning to satisfy the community.
http://www.3pointd.com/20070109/the-l-word-comes-to-second-life/
yep!!!!